Tuesday, November 1, 2011

A couple of weeks ago was my Mom's BIG 50th birthday! As you know, we did a mini family vacation to Bodega Bay for my Dad's 50th, so we had to do something fun for my mom too. Well, our plan to take her to San Francisco for the weekend and stay in a fancy smacny hotel did not work out. Everything was booked solid. BOO. Nevertheless, we made the best of it and had my sister and Jeffy come into town for the weekend and Ryan joined us too. We got my mom all kinds of fun 50 stuff to wear (hello flashing tiara that did not flash and a boa!) and then went to see a movie and then out to a nice dinner at Sergio's here in town. If you ask me, best Italian food in town. That's just my opinion, but I am biased.

For my Dad's birthday, he of course requested his all time favorite cake - Carrot Cake. Thus, I asked my Mom what kind she would like, because she deserved a homemade Christina cake as well. All she told me was chocolate. Wait, milk chocolate. Thanks Mom, that's doesn't help me at all. So, I began to research and found lots of chocolate cakes, but I wanted to change it up a bit and do something different. Not just chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Then it came to me - chocolate cake with a fruit filling! After searching and searching, for what seemed like hours, I came across the perfect cake for my Mom - Double Layer Chocolate Cake with Blackberry filling and a Chocolate Creme frosting. Oh man, my mouth is filling up with saliva just talking about it.

The cake is like a thick brownie, but still fluffy. The blackberry filling is like heaven on a spoon. Here is my tip for this, use the best jam you can find. Not the stuff loaded with high fructose corn syrup or other gross things. Go for totally awesome jam. One that you'd eat straight out of the jar. I ended up using a bottle of jam from Kolowski Farms in Sebastapol, CA. This was jam from my parents trip up there the day I came home from Bodega Bay. Such good jam. You have no idea. I have no shame in telling you that I would lick the jar clean if my tongue could reach that far. Seriously. Oh and lets not forget about the frosting. The marshmallow cream makes this so light and fluffy and totally hits the milk chocolatiness (is this even a word?) my Mom was looking for. The brownie like cake, smooth blackberry filling and light chocolate creme frosting make this cake one you need to try.

ingredients.

brownie batter. well kind of. I totally licked the beater. Ryan would be proud.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch-round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Combine flour, cocoa, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Add eggs, vanilla, sour cream, oil, vinegar (for leavening and a more tender cake), and 1 cup hot water and mix with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until a wooden skewer, inserted into cake center, comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 20 minutes, release from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Beat butter and jam together using an electric mixer set on medium speed until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth. Spread filling between 2 cake layers and frost with chocolate creme frosting

Using a mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and chocolate together until fluffy. Reduce speed to medium and beat in marshmallow cream. Add vanilla extract and sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally, until smooth and fluffy. Chill 20 minutes before using.

This cake tasted like heavenly fruity goodness between two layers of brownie cake. Next time I make this, I will be trying it with cherry jam or cherry preserves. Note - this cake was a little hard to slice warm (the middle kind of oozed out), so make sure to keep this cake in the fridge until ready to serve!